Energy costs are a significant and generally increasing portion of a typical energy consumer's budget. While reducing overall consumption can reduce energy cost for an energy consumer, efforts to reduce overall consumption can be challenging and opportunities for reducing energy consumption may not be readily available or practical.
Energy sources generally include thermal sources including fossil fuel burning power plants, such as natural gas turbine and coal power plants for example, as well as renewable sources including renewable energy power plants, such as wind and solar power plants, for example. Generally, fossil fuel burning power plants are the primary source of energy used by energy providers to balance with the available supply of renewable energy to meet consumer demand.
Wind power production and utility rates are generally inversely correlated, such that wind is often strongest when rates are lowest, particularly in markets with a time of use rate tariff. Accordingly, utility rates are relatively low when wind power production is peaking on a daily basis. Since utility rates are relatively low when an increased percentage of the energy provided to a consumer is generated by wind power, consumers can reduce energy costs, without reducing overall energy consumption, by increasing the portion of consumed energy that is generated by wind power as compared to thermal sources. Additionally, there are significant environmental benefits to encouraging and increasing consumption of energy generated by wind power and other renewable energy sources. However, there is currently no effective way to analyze the relative amount of energy consumed by an energy consumer that is generated by wind power to allow the energy consumer to take more informed measures to reduce energy costs.